Transportation of automobiles



. zoo-4,438

Julie 11, 1935. i. r-|.^...IUD`I 3 TRANSPORTATION or? AUToxoILns original'Filed peo. `4, 193s 1 1 f* IVENTQR w...w.m...w.w...u...|.1....1..M.-- 941215.11 31.1.1.4 1.11... 1+ 1\111...W u1

m mv hv 1 kms M11 mv .m1 \111111 1v1\ N ||\\|A\| |m..11 1 1 1\ .1 1 1 1 1 1 1A. 1 L .I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 u llllll 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 -1 1 1 1F 1 l I l a I I l I I l I VIIS Patented Junell,` 1935` i `frRnivsron'ih'ir.oN oF` AUTOMOBILES. n Irving Hfjdd', 'Dental Mich., assignorto White;

.head yit Kales Compan y, VRiver Rouge, Mich., a4 d d I'corporation of'Michigan A d V original appiicatin Decembera, isasgfsfeiaiiv. .I d y 700,923A Dividedand'this application May 7, f

1934, serialnavzcs'si n. d

3 claims;- (ci. 28o-33.1)

j This invention relatesgenerally to ,the transportation of automobiles and constitutes a divi sion of my application led December 4,1933,

bearing SerialNo. I700,923..

One of the essential objects of. the, invention` is to provide ame'thod of arranging automobiles for transportation in such-.manner that they can be carried on'an articulated vehicle or truckv Ytrailer'combination in considerably less over-all space than is possible withl heretofore known4 methods. l

Another object combination thatis constructed in such a way `that automobilesmaybe loaded onto-thetruck being understood. of course that the `term d "g'round as mentioned herein anddened `in the claims may mean any-suitable support.

Other objects, advantages `and novel detailsv of.

construction` of this invention will be made `more apparent as this description proceeds,'especially when considered in'connection'with the accom'- lpanying drawing, wherein: f l n Figure 1 is a side elevationof a Vtruck-trailer combination embodying my invention; Figure 2 is a fragmentary elevation of the combination illustrated in Figure 1`with the portion 28 of the lower track inclined upwardly and connected-to the'rear, end ofthe upperY track 20;

Figure`3 is atop plan View of the combination when'thetruck is,jackknifed"relative to the trailer and'is provided withskids' so that. automobiles may be loaded Vontorthetruck without -i moving longiturinally of the-trailer. y 35 Referring now tothe drawing,jzAis the truck or leading section andB is thertrailer or `trailing section of aniarticul'ated vehicle embodying" my invention. As shown, the truck-Al has a chassis frame I carrying an engine 2 and a drivers cab 3 and provided .with Vfront` andfrear .groundengaging wheels 4 and 5 respectively. `As usual,` the front wheelsv 4 are mounted on ,spindles-i 6 Vpivotally connected to the front'axle 'I and operable from a suitable steering wheel 8 within the cab. The rear wheels'5 are at oppositev ends of the rear axle 9 and are dual wheels adapted to be driven in the usual way from the engine 2.`

I0 is an auxiliary frame mounted on and having a portion II inclining upwardly and rearwardly from the chassis frame I. I2 and I3 respectively are uprights rigid with and projecting above the auxiliary frame I0, I4 are wheel fenders disposed upon the outer sides of `and having depending portions I5 rigid with the uprights` I2 and I3, and I6 are reinforcing gussetsifor the from either the trailer or from the ground,` A*it fenders. Inthis connection it will be' .ioted that the fenders I4 are elongatedin form so as tocover the front wheels I8 of thetrailer aswell as the rear wheels 5 of the truck"thel rearv end portions Ilof said'fender'slbeing formed ofjexiblefor l 5v yieldable material such as rubber, rubbercornposition orl weighted canvas and normally hangting in a vertical plane from anangle crossbar IIa rigidl withtheltop portions I9 oi said fenders;

Thus,` the exible poijtionsII willafford clear- 10V Y i. ancewhen the tiailer is being coupled cnuncouis to providea truck-trailer:

22ofthe cab,- while the lower.` track 2| is mount- 20 ed 'onand extends `fdrwardly and rearwardly Ybc-ifyondf the inclinedlportions I9 of the wheel feni ders., The upper track20* is preferably offsu'ii- `cient length to Vcarry a 1196? 'wheel baseautomo-l bile o wmie the 1ow'er' track 2| is sumcientiyiong 25' to carry@ 13'6f` wheelbase 'automobile D. ","Inl this, connection it Swill be vnoted that the .upper and lower tracks `2|).andv 2|hare staggeredly ar. ranged `and thatthe-lofwer track 2I extends from V an angleyiron 23 that `crosses the chassislframei 30' d at the back 24 of jthecabfto a channel crossbar 25 at the rear-:endet the auxiliaryframe I0'. Y Arigle irons 26` project laterally `from the auxiliary frame Ill-1in` advance'of thelfenders AI!! and co'- Y operatewith theangle iron23 .-to supportv the 35 track 2|, while the angle bar IIalcooperates with l the qcrossbar25 to support the track. `To facilitate: loading Vof theupper track 20; an intermediate portion 28 of the lower track 2I is used as the` portion 28 is detached from the inclined por- 4:5 tion 30 oi the lower track and is fastened to the rear end o1.v thelupper track, as illustrated in Figure 2. l Thetrailer B has a chassis frame 32 carrying upright side frames 33 and 33 and provided with 50` front and rear ground-engaging wheels I8 and f 34 respectively.V Preferably, the chassis frame 32 at the forward ends of the uprightside frames is Y-shaped in plan and the stem 36. of the Yhas an upwardly oiset portion 31 at its forward end f u .track 4| is carried by the chassis frame 32 between the upright side frames 33 and 33 and is sufiiciently long to carry a 13.0 wheel base automobile E, while the upper track 40 is carried by hingedly mounted crossbars 43 and 44 respectively on the side frames 33 and 33 and is suiiiciently long to carry a 136" wheel base automo-4 bile F. Y

When loading the combination, the trailer B may be in alignment with the truck A as illustrated in Figure lor the truck A may be jjackknifed, i. e., turned at anangle relative to the trailer B as illustrated in Figure 3. When the parts are in alignment, the combination is loaded by first swinging the upper track 40 of the trailer upwardly over the upright rside frame 33 to an inoperative position for clearance purposes and then driving automobile C from the ground up skids 58 attached to the rear end of the trailer over track 4| between the upright side frames 33 and 3 3 up skids 5| attached to portion 3| of track 2| onto track 2| on the truck, then up track section 28v (Figure 2) ontotra'ck'20. Track section 28 is then returned to'nested position with section 3| of track 2|.A Automobile D is then driven fromV the ground upV the skids 50 over track 4| between the upright side frames 33 and 33 up skids 5| onto track 2| beneath the rear end of automobile C (Figure 1). vSkids 5| are then removed and automobile E is driven from the ground up skids 50 onto track 4|. The

track 40 is then returned to lowered operative position (Figure 1), and skids 5I are attached to the' rear end thereof' as illustrated by dotted lines in Figure 1. 'Finally automobile F is driven from the ground up skids 5| onto said track 4U. When the truck A is jackknifed (Figure 3),' then skids 5| are attached to portion 3| ofrtrack 2| with their lower rear ends upon'the ground. Automobiles C and Dare then' driven from the ground up the skids 5| onto the tracks 28 and2| respectively as aforesaid without moving over track 4| between the upright side frames 33 and 33 of the trailer. As an alternative in loading, when the truck A is jackknifed (Figure 3), the automobile E may be loaded first uponY the lower track 4| ofthe trailer by moving the said automobile from the ground` up skids 5U onto track 4|,Vthen the automobile F may be loaded upon the upper track of the trailer'by moving said automobile from the ground up skids 5| onto track 40, then automobile C may be driven from the ground up skids 5| (Figure 3) over the rear portion 3| of track 2| up portion 28 (Figure 2) onto the upper track 20 of the truck and finally the automobile D may be loaded by moving it from the ground up skids 5| (Figure 3) onto the track 2|. It is understood, of course, that portion 28 of track 2| is returned to its lowered position as illustrated in Figure 1 after automobile C has been loaded and before automobile D is loaded. Thus, larger automobiles having a greater overall width than the distance between the upright side frames 33 may be loaded onto tracks 20 and 2| when the truck is jackknifed as aforesaid.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a method of loading automobiles on an articulated vehicle in which the trailing section of the vehicle has a front axle in tandem with the rear axle of the leading section of the vehicle and both of said sections have upper and lower tracks, the lower track on the leading section extending over the tandem axles, the steps which consist of moving an automobile forwardly from the ground over the lower tracks of the trailing section and leading section in the order named onto the upper track of the leading section, then .moving asecond automobile forwardly from the ground over the lower track of the trailing section onto the lower track of the leading section to a position over said tandem axles, then moving a third automobile forwardly from the ground onto the lower track of the trailing section, and then moving a fourth automobile forwardly from the ground onto the upper'track of the trailing i section to a position over said third automobile.

2. In a method of loading automobiles on an articulated vehicle in which the trailing section Y of the vehicle-has a front axle in tandem with the rear axle of the leading section of the vehicle and both of said sections 'have upper and lower tracks, the lower track on the leading'section extending over the tandem axles, the steps which consist of jack-knifing the sections ofsaid vehicle, moving an automobile forwardly from the Y ground. over the lower track of the leading section onto the upper track ofsaidleading section, moving a second automobile forwardly from the ground onto thelower trackv of the leading section to a position over said tandem axles, and then moving a third automobile fromvthe ground onto the lower track of the trailing section, and then moving a fourth automobile forwardly from the ground onto the upper track of the trailing section to a position, over said thirdautomobile.

3. In a method of loading automobiles Von an articulated vehicle in which the trailing section of the vehicle has a front axle in tandem with the rear axle of the leading section of the vehicle and both of said sections haveV upper and lower tracks, the lower track on the leading section extending overthe tandem axles, the steps which consist of moving* an automobile forwardly from Vthe ground onto'the lower track'4 ofthe trailing 

